Hatton: Nurseries provide winter garden opportunities

I often speak and write about the good weather we have in the Texas Panhandle that allows us to be active outside all winter. If one wants to, gardening can be done 12 months of the year. There is always something that needs to or can be done.

This is one of the reasons my wife and I retired here rather than in New Jersey, where we were living, or St. Louis, the favorite place that we lived over the years. But despite this “fair” winter weather, we still are largely devoid of color in our gardens.

Yes, we have trees with interesting bark, conifers that are evergreen, evergreen broad-leafed plants and other flora that serve to ease the winter blahs. But nothing substitutes for the cheeriness gotten from flowering plants.

While living in New Jersey, there were many “glass houses” we could visit. Our favorite was Duke Farms in Hillsborough, N.J., just a few miles from our house. This is not to be confused with Duke Gardens at Duke University in Durham, N.C.

Duke Farms, established in 1893, was the home of Doris Duke until her death in 1993. In winter, a series of connected, themed greenhouses was open to the public for tours. The greenhouses transformed the overcast, often snowy skies outside into springtime. The sights and warm, damp, earthy spring smells were heavenly!

While we have nothing so grandiose in Amarillo, we do have opportunities for such escapes to give us “fixes” for our winter blahs. First and foremost is the Mary E. Bivins Tropical Conservatory at Amarillo Botanical Gardens. Consisting of about 6,000 square feet of tropical plants complimenting a waterfall and pool, it is our local community garden jewel. This glass house has many exotic as well as some commonly seen tropical plants. Like any garden there are plants that are blooming now, those that just completed their bloom and those that bloom in another season. So just like any garden, this tropical garden is different from season to season and often from month to month.

Another way I get my flower fix at this time of the year is by visiting nurseries. We have several very good nurseries in this area, each having a different personality and emphasis. Although it is too early for them to be getting spring plants, they still have things to see.

Some plants did not get sold last year and are carried over, and some nurseries start some of their own plants and thus have plants growing for later sale. All, however, have nice plants to look at while in a warm environment that gives hints of the warm, colorful days to come.

This is also a good time to get some of your questions answered since there are fewer activities now and there is more time to talk about gardening. And don’t forget to take something home to look at as a reminder of the spring that will soon come.

Bob Hatton is a community volunteer and can be reached at gardenguy1@suddenlink.net.